By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) - The Greek Communist Party (KKE), the fourth largest party in parliament, slammed Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Tuesday and called for mass mobilizations.
"The KKE calls for massive popular condemnation of the new crimes committed by the terrorist state of Israel in Lebanon, which have so far resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries,” it said in a statement.
“The attacks in Lebanon, combined with the ongoing operations in Gaza and the Palestinian West Bank, constitute an escalation of the war in the Middle East with unforeseeable dimensions and with more civilian victims,” it added.
The party maintained that Israel utilizes a narrative of “self-defense” to legitimize and consolidate its imperialist ambitions, with the backing of the US, NATO and the EU.
It warned the government not to be complicit in Israel’s war crimes and demanded an immediate end to all political, economic and military ties with Tel Aviv.
The KKE underlined that those who adopt Israel’s narratives; keep silent in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks and who equate the perpetrator Israel with the victims Palestinians and Lebanese, facilitate Israeli policies.
“It is necessary more than ever to strengthen the fight against the crimes of the Israeli state and the US-NATO-EU policy that supports them,” it said.
The Israeli army has launched waves of deadly airstrikes on Lebanon since early Monday, killing more than 560 victims, including 95 women and 50 children, and injuring 1,835, according to Health Minister Firas Abiad.
"The majority of the victims in the Israeli attacks since Monday morning are defenseless civilians in their homes. This refutes the enemy's allegations of targeting fighters," he said.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,400 victims, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.
The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.